Waking up is hard. His eyelids feel glued together, and his throat is so parched that ever speaking again seems impossible. Most of all, though, it's the feeling that this is wrong—that he shouldn't be waking up at all.

Despite everything, there's no mistaking he isn't dead. He vaguely remembers being pulled out of the water, and the amulet being taken from him, and despair wells up inside him. Everything has been in vain. He has failed.

But Kurt had been there. Hadn't he? He had been glowing...Or Blaine had imagined everything. Far more likely that his father's soldiers had found him, that they know a shortcut to the Isle and had been waiting for him. But then...why is he still alive?

Groaning, he finally gives in and opens his eyes. As soon as he does, someone holds his head up and a cup of water to his lips; he drinks thirstily, but the water is taken away far too soon.

Only then he starts to notice his surroundings. He is still at the shore of the lake, lying in the black sand with his head pillowed on something warm and firm. It's still night: the moon shines brightly, brighter than before, and is reflected in the perfectly still waters of the lake.

And beside him, kneeling on the sand, a cup of water in his hand, is Kurt.

Blaine tries to sit up, and lies back down with a groan as the world starts to spin. But when it stops, Kurt is still there, smiling at him. He is still glowing faintly, but he looks tired. Sad, and hopeful at the same time.

"I wish you had talked to me," he says quietly.

Blaine had wished he could so many times. But how could he? And how did any of this happen? He still has no idea why he is alive, or why Kurt is here.

Slowly, he lifts his hands. He isn't bleeding anymore, and only faint red marks show on his wrists.

"How...?" he begins, but Kurt shakes his head. He shifts, and this is when Blaine notices that his head is resting on Kurt's legs.

"Can I tell you a story?" Kurt asks, and Blaine nods because he can't do anything else. Before Kurt starts talking, however, he lets Blaine have another few swallows of water and then covers him with a blanket. Thankful, Blaine pulls it up to his chin, not only for the warmth, but for the comfort and familiarity it offers.

"Once upon a time," Kurt says softly, "a thousand years ago, there was a good king. He was gentle and cared for his people, but it may be he did not always make the best decisions, and he did not have an easy time, as his children were quarreling about the succession, and the queen of the neighboring country was openly preparing to invade. The good king's people were afraid, and they began to talk of finding a stronger ruler. So the king sent the son who was nearest to his heart to the Moon God, to pray for help, for some sort of stability that would leave him free to worry about the other things threatening the kingdom. The Moon God, as you know, loves change, but he decided to make an exception for the sake of the young prince, who had touched his heart. He came to love him after a fashion, although of course he knew the prince was not the one destined to be with him.

So the Moon God took a stone from his Island, and he fashioned an amulet from it that would bring peace and stability to the kingdom as long as it was in possession of the royal family. Such was his love for the young prince that he granted that boon, even though it could cost him dearly, for he had to pour a lot of his power into the amulet and would grow weaker with every year it was kept.

To make sure the amulet worked only for the king's family, a single drop of blood was required.

But the prince's siblings, eager to eliminate their competition for the throne, pretended to have misunderstood, and they cut his throat and let his life blood flow into the amulet.

The Moon God saw now, too late, that the royal family could not be trusted, and he tried to take the amulet away again. But a promise given by a God is binding, and in his anger, the Moon God decreed that every one hundred years, a child of the royal family must be sacrificed to keep the spell active."

Blaine gasps, clutches the blanket that is covering him. Kurt knew...Kurt knew more than him, who had studied everything he could about the subject. Kurt seems also to have healed his wounds, and he is still glowing. It is...it is simply to much too fathom for his mind that still starts to spin whenever he tries to think too much.

Still...what is he doing here, listening to stories? Even to a story like this?

"Kurt," he says, voice hoarse and weak, "Kurt, I have to -"

What, he doesn't really know. He has failed, hasn't he? The amulet is gone, and he isn't dead.

Kurt shakes his head. "There's nothing you have to do, nothing you can do. I have found you, and I have found the amulet and returned it to its proper place. All will be well."

"Kurt..." Blaine sits up, the world's still spinning, but he manages to ignore it. "Kurt, please, I need that amulet, you have to -"

Again, Kurt shakes his head, and Blaine finds he can't speak, can't object anymore as Kurt pushes him down so his head is again resting on his thighs, covers him with the blanket once more, and continues speaking.

"You see," he says, "the sacrifice—that was done in anger, and bad judgement. It was meant as security, to make sure the amulet would be returned in due time without draining too much of the Moon God's powers. For surely, no family would sacrifice one of their own.

As you know, the Moon God was mistaken. But he still had hope. When the kingdom was in peace once more, when the succession was in place and the neighboring queen defeated, the Moon God waited for them to come and return the amulet, as they had promised. He waited a long time, but at last, he had to admit they had broken their promise, and that now, the amulet was not used anymore to bring help in a dire situation, but to make sure the power stayed in that one family."

Blaine swallows. It is clear that this story is much more than just a story, but he still doesn't understand why he has to listen to it now, when he has just lost everything he has worked for. He has to...he doesn't know. Kurt said there was nothing he could do, but there must be something...he must find the amulet. Or...something. Anything but lie here and listen to a story.

But Kurt's hand rests heavy on his chest, and as he continues speaking, Blaine finds he can't do anything but listen.

"By the time the Moon God had come to that realization, he was greatly weakened. A lot of his power had gone into the amulet, along with his belief that he had not been betrayed. He tried to find the amulet, to take it away, but he had but a fraction of his former powers, and he failed. And when he tried to return to the heavens after his search, he found he was unable to. He had become too weak, too human, to take his place among the Gods. He was stuck on earth, to live life like a mortal, until he would either be able to acquire the amulet and regain his powers, or—and that seemed much more probable, to be weakened so much he would die."

Blaine feels like he's about to fall asleep, lulled by the gentle voice of his captain, but something keeps him awake. This is important, he feels—he knows—even though he still doesn't understand.

"A few companions," Kurt continues, "joined the lost God in his exile. Willingly, they joined their lives with his, to be his friends and his comfort on his travels, and, should the time come, to die with him."

Kurt smiles his little, ironic smile. "The Moon God acquired a ship, and together they sailed the oceans in search of the amulet, or their deaths."

Blaine gasps and sits up. He remembers the phrase - "acquired a ship", the strange phrase that had made him fantasize about Kurt being a pirate. And suddenly, he understands—the strange happenings on the ship after nightfall, his dreams, why the amulet had glowed, possibly his own, strange attraction to Kurt.

Awkwardly, he goes down to his knees. But how do you talk to a God? Even a lost one? The words of praise and devotion the priests use do not sound right to him, not after they shared breakfast and kissed.

"Captain," he ends up saying, and winces because it sounds so absurd. It's how he has always addressed Kurt, but then, this isn't Kurt, is it? It's the Moon God, the deity his people have always revered beyond any other, even though it turns out they betrayed him. He sighs and bows his head.

Until an impatient voice commands him to stand up. "Or rather, sit down again. You're still weak, and you can stop all this...God nonsense. Didn't you hear me say I was little more than a human?"

Kurt's voice becomes gentle again, and sad. "Why did you try to kill me?"

"I didn't!" The accusation does little to give him the confidence he'd need to rise in Kurt's presence, so he stumbles back onto his knees, looking up at Kurt with eyes that he knows are wide and frightened. "I tried to kill myself!"

Inexplicably, Kurt laughs. He shakes his head and pulls Blaine down, so that he's half sitting, half lying, his head cradled against Kurt's chest. "I gathered that much, yes. It took almost all of my strength to heal your wounds, even though I'm stronger here on the Island. The point is, had you succeeded, I'm almost certain you'd have taken me with you. I'm so weak, and to fuel the amulet for another hundred years..."

"I didn't know, I swear," Blaine whispers. He is dizzy at the thought of killing Kurt, a God, his sweet, gentle captain. "No one knew."

"There is a warning, Blaine. Directly on the amulet. Mãne starvat, it says. The Moon dies. It's short, I know, but it should not be that hard to interpret."

"It's...Kurt. This language isn't spoken anymore. There are no records of it. It's been dead for centuries."

"Oh." Blaine turns to Kurt, who looks sheepish and apologetic. It makes it hard for him to believe that this is really a God. "Sometimes it's hard to...stay on top of things, when for you, few things ever change. Human lives are so different."

Blaine sits up again, what he has to say too urgent to be spoken lying down. "Kurt...I wouldn't have. If I'd known, I'd never -"

Kurt shrugs. "Be that as it may. I...gather you are the unfortunate prince whose turn it was to be sacrificed. But why have you come here all alone? The last time I remember, there were priests, prayers spoken to keep me from interfering...things like that."

"I ran away," Blaine says, and briefly explains to Kurt what he had wanted to do, and why. "That's why I need the amulet," he closes. "Things can't go on like they were. Especially if...if you..."

Kurt chuckles, strokes one hand over Blaine's cheek. "I certainly agree with you there. And in a way, you were successful. You did save me. And the amulet is back where it belongs. Look."

He indicates the large stone. The indentation that was there isn't anymore. The amulet is in it, its rim glowing slightly, just enough for Blaine to see. It looks like it's become part of the stone.

"There it will stay," Kurt says. "It can't be taken out again, not without my permission. Which I certainly will not give."

Blaine stares as the amulet slowly stops glowing. Then he sighs, and leans back into Kurt.

He hasn't failed. He hasn't died, but he hasn't failed.